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Simply Nothing

Shawn McDonald | July 29th, 2004

It's always good to hear how Christ can turn someone's life around and then use said person to minister in countless people's lives. Shawn McDonald is one such story. Coming off nine felony counts for drug abuse, Shawn McDonald offers a breath of fresh air into the realm of Christian music with his stripped down acoustic feel and authentic worship. McDonald was a crowd pleaser upon coming to Cedarville in the spring of 2007 in which he played a number of songs from his debut Simply Nothing.

Simply Nothing's charm comes in its very mellow and very organic sound. Each and every song proves an easy listen; production on the disc is near impeccable. Crowd pleaser “Take My Hand” kicks off the album, which is probably the most up-beat track on the whole CD. “Gravity” follows, which offers some great acoustic guitar strumming as McDonald talks about not falling away from Christ.

The only complaint that may be had about McDonald's album comes from the remaining tracks. Until the listener has given the CD repeated listens, many of the songs will probably be hard to distinguish from one another. The uniqueness of the album begins to show itself after repeat listens, despite the songs' similarity.

“Hold On” features some excellent vocal layering and “Simply Nothing” offers impeccable background accompaniment from a female vocalist. The main question posed in “Simply Nothing” is What are you man if you do not learn love. The question is only answered by the title of the track.

Worship takes center stage in songs “All I Need (Is Your Love)” and “Yahweh.” There's nothing fancy or enhanced about Shawn McDonald's treatment of worship music. Such treatment makes the listening experience truly enjoyable. Songs “Beautiful” and “Have You Ever?” are two very basic acoustic songs that are thought provoking and worshipful, making them two of the many highlights to the album.

Simply Nothing is difficult to critique harshly. If you're a fan of stripped down acoustic worship and haven't given Shawn McDonald a chance yet, I greatly implore you to pick up this CD. Shawn McDonald is an artist that no one should go without hearing. There are few albums that are as well crafted and beautiful as McDonald's debut.

Reviewed by Jarrod Steinmetz on March 9th, 2008

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